Physical Geography of Hindostan. 333 



of the place, and that the rains which always accompany it 

 follow and retire a few days afterwards. On the eastern 

 side of the peninsula again, from Ceylon to considerably 

 northward of Madras, lying in the lee as it were of the land, 

 the monsoons blow from north-east and south-east, the former 

 of which occurs in midwinter, being their rainy season. 



Few things can be more striking than the state of the 

 atmosphere or the aspect of the sky just as these periodical 

 alterations are about to arise. Taking what appears at 

 Bombay as an example : from the beginning of November to 

 the end of May the sky has been perfectly cloudless, and not 

 a shower has fallen. Regular sea and land breezes setting 

 in before noon and daybreak respectively, the former blowing 

 from north-west for ten or twelve hours, the latter from due 

 east for five or six, with intervals of calm between, have 

 filled up the day and night. While this state of matters still 

 continues, and not the slightest indication is given of coming 

 change, the stranger observes to his astonishment a sudden 

 and simultaneous bustle amongst the whole community. The 

 tents occupied by the troops, and the flimsy dwelling-places 

 which had hitherto afforded accommodation to the European 

 population, are suddenly pulled down and swept away, as if 

 their occupants were fleeing before some fearful pestilence. 

 The most substantial buildings, if thatched, have their roofs 

 stripped off and renewed, and in any case have them tho- 

 roughly repaired, while all doors and windows facing the 

 south-westward are boarded up, matted over, or in some way 

 or other secured. Square-rigged vessels strike their upper 

 masts, lower their yards, and make immediate provision for 

 a storm, while as yet there is nothing whatever to warn the 

 stranger of coming change ; and the lighter native craft are 

 hauled up beyond the reach of the waves, and thatched over 

 with a thick roofing of palmyra leaves. Large clouds at 

 length begin to make their appearance daily about noon over 

 the western mountains, and advancing up the sky eastward, 

 right in the teeth, as it would seem, of the wind then blow- 

 ing, exhibit the most magnificent display first of sheet, after- 

 wards of forked lightning. This goes on from day to clay for 

 about a week, the electrical displays becoming more vivid 



VOL. LVI. NO. CXII. — APRIL 1854. Z 



